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Holiday Party: The 2012 holiday party was held at
Historic
Michie Tavern near Monticello on the evening of Sunday, December 2.
The reception began at 5:30 PM, and tours of the Tavern Museum were
offered during the reception. Dinner began at 6:30 PM after Mel Brannan
said grace and Director of Operations (and Boxster owner) Sam Morris gave
a brief history of the tavern and described the upcoming buffet. The
style, as always, was traditional Southern cooking: fried chicken, pulled pork,
Virginia ham, black-eyed peas, beets, stewed tomatoes,
mashed potatoes and gravy, iced tea, hot cider, etc., etc., followed by
peach cobbler with ice cream. As always, nobody went home hungry.

After dinner, Election Chair Phyllis Scrogham introduced our newly
elected 2013/4 officers: President Sherry Westfall, Vice President
Greg Glassner, Secretary Lynne Taylor, and Treasurer Carey Lockhart.
Sherry thanked the outgoing Treasurer, Bob Duntley, the outgoing
Secretary, Herb Distefano, and all of the 2012 volunteers for their
services to the club. She also thanked Flow Porsche of Charlottesville
and Euroclassics Porsche of Richmond for their support.

Alex Smith created a new "Presidents Trophy" honoring all of the
Shenandoah Region presidents starting from Cole Scrogham, the first
president. Driving Chairman Rick Ebinger presented the 2012 autocross
awards to Mike Kilmer (class P03 winner), Jeffrey Elmore (class I01),
Sherry Westfall (Ladies class), Jim Condon (class P05), and Ed Weidner
(class P04 and Autocrosser of the Year). The event ended with a drawing
for a variety of door prizes.

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can stay in touch with you. Here
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New Boxster Test Drive
by Keith Welty & Greg Glassner
2012 Nov. 30

We promised President Sherry
a report on interesting Porsches at the Hilton Head Concours de
Elegance Nov. 4. Unfortunately, there were few there, the emphasis in
2012 being on Ford Cobras, Shelby Mustangs, and Model T Fords.

However Porsche was there offering drives around the island behind the
wheel of the 2013 Boxster S, so we signed up for one.

Manufacturers do these test drives of new models at select shows and
races around the country, figuring this is where the sports car
enthusiasts gather. We've driven a new BMW and an AMG Mercedes in
years past at Hilton head and a Jaguar XF on the roads around Road
Atlanta. Over Labor Day weekend, I drove a 550-horse Jaguar XKRS over
the winding roads around the Lime Rock Park racetrack. So if you are
interested in taking a spin in someone else's new $80,000–$130,000 car,
look for these booths at the events you attend.

Porsche was quite trusting with the Boxster, letting Welty and
Glassner share one with few directions beyond staying behind the
instructor who led our pack—and being responsible for any speeding
tickets we accumulated. (Yes, the police got wise to the routes the
Porsches were taking.)

Hilton Head is a pretty crowded place on show days, so blasting off
from a standing start was about the extent of putting the Boxster S
though its paces. The cornering capacity far exceeded the available
road conditions.

Keith has owned a Boxster for a number of years, so his comments are
more relevant than mine:

"My impressions of the Boxster S based on our too-brief time with it
are that its style is less retro and it now now looks as if it is
aspiring to be a 918. It's edgier and very striking. This was a bigger
change than from the 986 to the 987.
"The interior is a very nice improvement, certainly more upscale but
all very familiar too.
"It has definitely more power but largely, I suspect, because of one
we drove being an 'S' instead of the base Boxster, which I have.
"Handling? I have no idea how much better. When you start with a car
as good as good as the 986/987, you need to be a skilled driver, which
I'm not, to notice the improvement.
"All the buttons were fun to push but on our drive I couldn't tell too
big a difference for the suspensions settings. Of course we were on
pretty smooth roads and not cornering too hard," Keith observed.

Any new sports car impresses the heck out of this 1983 944 owner. But
I have driven Keith's car and I found I fit in the 2013 model much
more comfortably. (I haven't lost that much weight, have I?)

Also, the driver's foot well seemed roomier for my size 12EEE
sneakers, but that could be because the 2013 Boxster S pretty much
does the gear selection and clutch work for you.

Keith suggested we use our positions as Heat Exchanger scribes to pry
a Boxster S from Porsche for a longer road test.

I'm all for that.

PCA Plates for Virginia: The Potomac
Region has launched a campaign to get PCA license plates. The key to
getting this plate approved by the Legislature is to have 450 prepaid
applications. Thus Howard Hill and Dick Seltzer of Potomac are
soliciting expressions of interest from all Virginia PCA members. The
cost of these plates will be $10.00 per
set.

Election Results: The ballots have been counted! The
Shenandoah Region Porsche Club of America has elected the following
slate of officers for the 2013–14 term:

Congratulations go out to these four outstanding individuals. Our
club is fortunate to have such a talented team of individuals fill
these leadership positions. The new officers will begin their term
January 1, 2013.

The election committee would like to thank all members who
participated in the election. A record number of votes were cast.

Porsches and Pastrami: Porsches and Pastrami is back
at Durty Nelly's, Gary Hagar presiding. We met for lunch at 1 pm on a
beautiful Sunday, November 11. The parking lot was filled with
Porsches, including the white 1981 930 that Jeff Sivers recently
bought in California, drove back to Virginia, tore down, repainted,
and (mostly) put back together in time for the event. It sounds like
a real beast.

After lunch we drove to the Old Stone Jail museum in the big city of
Fluvanna. Carolyn Talley, Chuck Westrater, and Judy Mickelson
of the Fluvanna Historical Society led us on an informative
private tour of Maggie's House, the 1800's jail, and the
old courthouse. More photos...

John Schmidt and Jenefer Brouse of Charlottesville, VA–1984 Porsche 911

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Fall Foliage Tour: Phil and Susie Audibert's
Scintillating Seventh Fall Foliage Tour ran as scheduled
on Sunday, October 28, despite Hurricane Sandy. We
didn't even get rained on! The tour started at the Food Lion parking
lot in Gordonsville, as shown in the
attached photos. We drove north
on a road familiar to many (Rt. 231 north) to Madison County and then
took back roads to Rochelle, Jack's Shop, Wolftown, Hood, Eheart's
Corner, and Burnley Station. The tour included a stop at
Horton Vineyards (Cellars) for a
private tour of the castle-like winery. Winemaker Michael Heny
explained the winemaking process clearly and let us taste some
unfinished and finished wines to show how wines change during the
winemaking process. After the wine tour, we drove about a mile up
the road to
Stonefire Station for
a buffet lunch in their ballroom. Election chair Phyllis Scrogham
handed out paper ballots for the election of Shenandoah Region officers.
If you didn't vote then, you can still
vote electronically at any time
through November 20. President Sherry Westfall described upcoming
events (Porsches and Pastrami at Durty Nelly's and the holiday dinner
at Michie Tavern).

Euroclassics/Shenandoah DE: Mark Cooke of
Euroclassics Porsche and Alex Smith of the Shenandoah Region PCA set
up the eleventh annual Columbus Day (Monday, October
8) on the VIR Full Course. There were three run groups, the
first of which followed a pace car driven by Euroclassics mechanic
Wayne Hall. The "red" and "white" groups were for more experienced
drivers. Instructors were available for drivers in all groups.

The track was wet most of the day, so everybody got to
practice the art of racing in the rain. Click
here to see the event photos, all
of which were kindly provided by Art, the VIR photographer
from F&S Enterprises.

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can stay in touch with you. Here
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The Shenandoah On-Line Goodie Store is Open! Choose
from 25 items in a variety of styles, colors, and sizes to show your
Shenandoah spirit. Go to the Shenandoah Goodie Store web page page
either (1) by moving your mouse cursor over MARTS on the navigation bar
above and then clicking on GOODIE STORE or (2) by clicking
here.
You will find helpful hints for those who may need a little guidance
or are not the most computer-savvy as well as comments on particular
items. The ordering process is easy and only takes a few minutes.

Fall DE, First Settlers Region: The First Settlers
Region ran their popular fall DE at VIR on Saturday and Sunday,
September 22 and 23 (South Course) and on Monday, September 24 (Full
Course). The sunny but cool and dry fall weather was a welcome relief
from the humid summer heat. The South Course is more technical than
the Full Course, with a shortened back straight leading into a
pinching off-camber hairpin turn appropriately called "the bitch."
The bendy South Course is great opportunity for Cayman drivers to catch
high-power cars that are faster on the Full Course
. Many
Shenandoah members drove in one or both parts of the event: Mel
Brannan, Hamish Brookeman, Rachael Clark, Jim Condon, Holly and Matt
Einstein, the racing team of David, Erin, and Sean Israel, John
Kessler, Emmett Richardson, and Sherry Westfall. Rachael's Audi A4
suffered from turbo troubles, and Mel's 964 caught fire on the track.
Fortunately Mel got out quickly and put out the fire before any
serious damage was done to his engine. Click
here to see the event photos.

ALMS scores a big hit at VIR:
PCA Shenandoah members all over the place
by Greg Glassner
September 20, 2012

The American Le Mans Series descended on Virginia International
Raceway's sinuous 3.2-mile road course Sept. 15 for the inaugural VIR
240.

With track records sure to tumble under an assault by the rapid ALMS
prototypes and GT cars, thousands of spectators—including about
two-dozen PCA Shenandoah members—descended on VIR. Picture-perfect
late summer weather didn't hurt either.

The Pickett Racing Muscle Milk HPD P1 car driven by German hotshoes
Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr ran off and hid from their P-1 and P-2
rivals during the four-hour enduro, finishing four laps ahead of the
Dyson Lola Mazda shared by Chris Dyson, Guy Smith, and Johnny Mowlem.

Much closer was the GT battle, which saw Corvette's Ollie Gavin and
Tommy Milner edge the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3RSR of Patrick Long
and Jorg Bergmeister and the Ferrari F458 Italia of Scott Sharp and
Johannes van Overbeek. The Dirk Muller/Bill Auberlin BMW was fourth
in class and the second Flying Lizard GT3RS of Marco Holzer and team
boss Seth Neiman was fifth in GT.

The win sewed up the GT title for the Corvette team, despite the best
efforts of BMW, Porsche, and Ferrari. However, the Porsches have been
showing late-season promise, with the Flying Lizard and Team Falken
Tire 911s both grabbing victories. Kenny Shreves of Charlottesville,
who spins wrenches for Flying Lizard, was a busy man all weekend.

The P-2 class was won by the Level 5 HPD of Scott Tucker and
Christophe Bouchut over the Morgan-Nissan of Martin Plowman and David
Heinemieir-Hansson.

Colin Braun and Jonathan Bennett took Prototype Challenge honors over
the identical Oreca-Chevrolet of Marino Franchitti and Rudy
Junco. Venezuelan. Alex Popow finished third in class, but sewed up
the driver's title in PC.

The all-Porsche GTC race also came down to the final lap. Leh Keen and
Cooper McNeil took their Porsche GT3 Cup to victory over the identical
car of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Henrique Cisneros, when the leading
Porsche of Chris Cumming and Martin Ragginger had to pit for fuel.

The pole-winning Green Hornet Racing, Fusion Trade Porsche of Peter
LeSaffre and Damien Faulkner finished a credible fourth in GTC despite
some problems during the grueling four-hour race. A cut tire from a
close encounter with careless P-2 competitor put them a lap down. PCA
Shenandoah co-founder Cole Scrogham (son of Weldon and Phyllis) is
Team Strategist for Green Hornet.

It was difficult not to stumble over somebody with PCA Shenandoah ties
at VIR. Kerrigan Smith, who grew up in PCA as the son of Alex Smith of
RPM fame, is the Director of Track Operations. Kerrigan and his crew
did a great job of managing a huge turnout, putting on a great race
and winning over many new VIR converts who filled the hillsides and
bleachers on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

No ALMS race report is complete without a shout out to the group that
put together another wonderful Porscheplatz. It provided PCAers with a
panoramic view of the first five turns, an oasis in which to grab a
bottle of water or soft drink, and a hub of good information and some
swag. This reporter won a drawing for a hot-pits tour, but gave it to
PCA Shenandoah member Keith Welty. (I've hung around a lot of NASCAR,
Can-Am, World Endurance, Super Vee, and even F-1 pits back in the
day. Besides, I was worried that my Triple-X girth might not slip
easily into an IMSA flamesuit!)

However, I did talk my way into a ride aboard a PCA member's 1992 911
for the PCA parade lap and enjoyed it immensely. (Thanks, Mike!) ALMS
merges with the Grand-Am series in 2014, but VIR should have the
blisteringly fast ALMS cars back one more time next year.

The final autocross of the 2012 season was held under threatening
skies at the Augusta Government Center on September
8, but the rain held off just long enough for everybody to
get in six runs. Rick and Erik set up a fairly fast course that the
higher-power cars did well on. Harry Hoffon got the 52.729 seconds
FTD in his 2009 Corvette Z06, followed by Jeffrey Elmore at 53.640,
Jonathan Newhall at 53.988, and Rick Ebinger at 54.879.
More photos...

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Mike Kilmer and Andy Turner

Autocross #5 at Verona

To balance out the exceptionally fast autocross at the Augusta
Government Center in July, this time (August 18) we
had a very technical course that was all slaloms, loops, and Chicago
boxes. A lot of cones bit the dust, but there were only a couple of
minor spins. The weather was perfect: sunny but only 75 degrees.
Matt Ehrlich had the FTD, 59.918 seconds, in his 2011 Subaru WRX; and
he was the only driver to break a minute. Next was Harry Hoffon in a
2009 Corvette Z06, with a 60.436. Jeffrey Elmore (60.704) squeaked by
Rick Ebinger (60.734) in the Porsche "improved" group. Jonathan
Newhall drove the recently upgraded (new tires and coilovers) Foreign
Affairs' 2008 Cayman S; it was the fastest Porsche at 61.534
seconds. Steffen Clark drove his three-wheeler Colt (see the photos).
The next (and final) autocross of the 2012 season has been rescheduled
from September 1 to September 8.
More photos...

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Historic Pharsalia Tour: On a sunny Sunday, July
29, members of the Shenandoah Region PCA (plus Carlos and
Adaire Toro from Chesapeake) drove from the Mountainside Grill in
Crozet to
Pharsalia,
an antebellum plantation nestled high on the slopes of de Priest
Mountain in Nelson County with spectacular views of the Tye River
valley, orchards, and vineyards. Rich in history, Pharsalia was
originally built in 1814 by Thomas Massie and was given to his son,
William, as a wedding gift. The property is now in the hands of the
fifth-generation Massie family. Many of the plantation's original
dependencies remain including the brick kitchen, laundry, slave
quarters, and ice and smoke houses. Pharsalia is only open to the
public by group reservation or for private events, so we had a special
opportunity to experience one of Virginia's grand old homes. After a
southern-style catered lunch, owner "Foxie" Morgan gave us an extensive
tour of the plantation house and grounds. Pharsalia is another of our
region's hidden gems; if you didn't go on the tour, you should have.
More photos...

August History Quiz by Harry
Kennison:
August 2012

Here is this month's history quiz to test your knowledge of the
infamous and famous within the Porsche Club of America's Shenandoah
Region as we travel in the "wayback machine" to 2009. Click and drag down on
the scroll bar to uncover the answers.

Questions:

Who took over as president of the Shenandoah Region in 2009? (I'll
give you a hint—he drives a sinister-looking 928 GTS and has amassed
more speeding tickets going to and from Regional events than any other
member.)

Who hosted the inaugural "Porsches & Pastrami" event in March 2009 and
where did the points-of-interest drive take them that day?

Who won the "People's Choice" Award for the best-looking Porsche at
the 2009 Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM)?
A. Deane Parker with his 2007 special edition, orange Boxster S
B. Rick Ebinger with his 1974 green 914
C. Johnny Johnson with his 1974 911 Carrera Targa
D. Vic and Carol Rola for their beautiful Porsche 911

Who did himself proud at the 2009 "Rumble at the Oak Tree" event held
at Virginia International Raceway and what did he do to gain his
competitors' respect?

In September 2009 the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge regions got together
for lunch at Raif Antar's Basil Mediterranean Bistro. Mick Mickelsen
from the Blue Ridge Region made a grand entrance in his gorgeous red
1965 356C to the event. What made Mick's car so unique?

Bonus Question: What was unique about the final Autocross course held
at the Augusta Government Center in Verona in 2009 and who won the
event?

Answers:

Bill Sanders stepped up from his role as vice president to take over
the presidential duties from Herb Distefano in January 2009. Bill is
also known for having one of the slickest looking 928's in the country
and seems to have a propensity for acquiring more speeding tickets on
his way to and from Porsche Club events than any other member. Bill
is a two-time holder of the "Dubious Achievement" Trophy awarded to
the Shenandoah member receiving the most recent speeding ticket on his
or her way to a Porsche Club event.

Gary Hagar served up the first of several "Porsches & Pastram" casual
Sunday events that started off with lunch at his Durty Nelly's Pub &
Wayside Deli in Charlottesville followed by a points-of-interest drive
around the Albemarle County area. Thirteen Shenandoah members turned
out for the inaugural event in March 2009 but after a delicious lunch,
the tour was canceled due to rain and snow.

D. The "People's Choice" Award at the 2009 Richmond Porsche Meet
(RPM) went to Vic and Carol Rola for their beautiful 911.

Shenandoah member Matt Einstein in his 2006 997 GT-3 Cup car went off
on the first lap of the "Rumble at the Oak Tree" race at Virginia
International Raceway near Danville. After letting the entire field
pass before he got back on track, he cut through the field to take
fourth place gaining the respect of everyone including the corner
workers. In the endurance race, Matt came in third overall and first
in class despite breaking his shifter on the third lap.

Mick Mickelsen made a grand entrance at the Shenandoah–Blue Ridge
luncheon in September in his bright red 1965 356C that appeared to be
powered by two pink Flamingos attached to the luggage rack on the rear
deck lid.

Bonus Question Answer: Driver Education Chair Rick Ebinger decided to
change things up for the last Autocross event of the year held at the
Augusta Government Center in Verona by offering the 48 participants
two autocrosses for the price of one. Rick set up the course so it
could be run clockwise and counter-clockwise allowing drivers to set
two times. When the dust settled, each driver's times were added
together to determine the Fastest Time of the Day. Rick ended up with
the third fastest combined time and first among the Porsches in his
"forever young" 1974 914. Evans Reynolds was second among the
Porsches in his 1988 911 and Erik Boody was third driving Rick's 914.
Cristina McCann was the fastest among the Porsche lady drivers in a
2008 Cayman belonging to her father, Paul Sponseller. Cristina, who
ended up fastest overall in the Ladies Class for 2009, later received
the "Autocrosser of the Year Award" at the Holiday Awards banquet for
her spirited drives and continual improvement.

New Boxster (981) Launch: The new model 981 Boxster
was launched at the King
Family Vineyards on the evening of Friday, July 13
by Flow Porsche
of Charlottesville. At least 25 Shendandoah Region members
attended to meet old friends, enjoy the scenery, drink the wine, eat the
hors d'oeuvres (they were too fancy to be called "munchies"), and see
the 2013 Boxster up close for the first time. Flow also brought a Cayenne,
a Panamera, and a 991 Cab.

See more photos of this event
and the Euroclassics launch to follow this article. The new Boxster
has a bigger footprint—the wheelbase is 2.4 inches longer and
the front track is 1.6 inches wider—but the weight is lower,
only 2910 pounds for the Boxster S with the manual transmission. Some of the
weight loss comes from aluminum doors and trunk lids.

The Euroclassics
Porsche launch was held on the morning of Saturday, July 14 at the
Euroclassics showroom in Midlothian, VA. Light breakfast refreshments
were served in the adjacent room. The styling of the new Boxster
takes some cues from the Carrera GT, including the sloped console and
sculpted doors leading into the air intakes just behind the doors. The
3.4 liter engine of the Boxter S puts out 315 hp and has a 7800 rpm
redline. Other go-fast goodies include dynamic transmission mounts
and Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV), the latest electronic incarnation
of the limited-slip differential. The basic Boxster S starts at about
$60,000, but it's easy to add $20,000 in "must have" options.

Alan Sweets's 2012 Carrera GTS

Autocross #4 at Verona

Rick and Erik set up an exceptionally fast autocross at the Augusta
Government Center on a very hot Sunday, July 8. It
featured a straight extending from the northeast corner of the small
lot behind the trailer to the southwest corner of the main parking
lot, and many cars had to shift into third gear by the end. Four
drivers stayed under 50 seconds, and there were four women driving.
Suzuki driver Chris Salzman took his girlfriend for a ride and
proposed on the course! This video
shows it happening. His time was 2 minutes 58 seconds, good for an STD.

Checkered flag for the enduro race The 2012 "Rumble at the Oak Tree" Club Race and
Advanced DE at VIR

This year's "Rumble at the Oak Tree" club race and advanced driver's
education (DE) sponsored by Zone 2 featured a race class for BMWs in
addition to the two Porsche race groups—the "red" group for
low-power and "black" group for high-power cars. (See the
photos that go along with this
text.) As usual, the weather was very hot for this late-June event.
The sprint races were on Saturday and the enduro took place on Sunday.
The DE sessions were sandwiched between the racing sessions, and the
DE drivers got plenty of track time. Shenandoah members present
included Rick Ebinger (volunteer for timing and scoring), Sherry
Westfall (volunteer for almost everything), Jim Condon (DE driver and
volunteer for DE tech), and Mel Brannan (DE driver). Dan Ehrman drove
his Boxster down to VIR on Sunday and watched the enduro races.

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can stay in touch with you. Here
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Dinner And A Silent Movie: We met at Mario's Pizzeria
in Orange on Saturday, June 16 for a Shenandoah membership meeting and
dinner. After dinner, Keith and Jeanne Welty led us on a drive through
the scenic countryside of Orange, Madison, and Culpeper counties. Six
of the eight Porsches were Boxsters or Cabriolets with the tops down
to soak up the maximum scenery. Tours just before sunset can be
especially scenic because the light is mellow, not the harsh glare of
the noonday sun. Our destination was
Library of
Congress–Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation
Center (map), just east of Culpeper.
Prior to 1998, this facility, a.k.a.
Mount
Pony, contained a secret bunker for Federal Reserve senior
officials and a massive vault with pallets of cash that would be used
to replenish the money supply in the aftermath of World War III.

Now this state-of-the-art facility is where the Library of Congress
"acquires, preserves and provides access to the world's largest and
most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio
broadcasts, and sound recordings". We went into the recreated movie
theater from the silent era, complete with an organ on the stage that
could be lowered during the movie just enough that the organ didn't
block the screen but the organist was visible to the audience. We saw
two shorts and then the main feature "Bare Knees," a 1928 romantic
comedy from the Flapper era. The live organ accompanyment greatly
added to the experience of watching a silent movie. After the movie,
most of the audience left, but we stayed behind for a special
presentation on the history of the facility, the efforts being made to
preserve old movies (some of which are on highly flammable
nitrate-based film that must be stored in concrete vaults because it
is so dangerous), and a demonstration of the Wurlitzer theater organ.
Such organs are designed to mimic a full orchestra, and they also
contain a "toy box" of sound effects such as sirens and foghorns.

This film center and theater is one of the area's hidden gems. If you
haven't been there, check it out and go sometime. You will like it.

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can stay in touch with you. Here
are instructions on how to
change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership.

Shenandoah's Sixteenth Annual Richmond Porsche Meet
(RPM): On Friday, June 1 Kevin Leonard arranged a dinner at
Belle Vie European Bistro attended by the few hardy souls who braved
the stormy weather in their Porsches. Fortunately the sky was clear
(and cool) on Saturday for the tops-only concours along the banks of
the scenic James River at the home of Court and Kathy Spotts. Eighty
six Porsches were on display, ranging in age from four 356's to Alex
Smith's shiny new 991. David Cottrell brought two outstanding
exotics: his red Carrera GT and a very original Andial 964 cup car,
one of only three still known to exist.

Dave Lasch led two teams of judges for the cars formally entered
into the concours. The concours categories and their winners are:

The concours concluded with a catered lunch at the famous "Cafe
Carrera."

In the afternoon, Sherry Westfall led a gimmick rally/fun drive to
the
historic Foundry
Golf Club on scenic Fine Creek. The Foundry was built in the
early 1800's to manufacture arms but never actually produced any. It
is now a golf club, not a country club, for serious golfers. From
there we went to a tech session on the Porsche 991 at Euroclassics
Porsche. Chris Stone showed a series of slides explaining the
technical marvels of the 991. Cars are becoming amazingly complicated
machines. I hope they will remain reliable! The evening awards
banquet at the Martin's Grant clubhouse featured Ms. Connie Nyholm,
co-owner and developer of Virginia International Raceway (VIR),
telling us about our favorite race track. Here are
some photos from the tour, tech
session, and banquet. Check out Connie's black 356 necklace. Not
only does she run VIR, she is a vintage racer who currently owns and drives an
Allard J2.

The weekend finished with a Sunday autocross on the 1/3-mile banked
oval track at Southside Speedway. Twenty bold Porsche drivers plus
Samuel Reiman in a 1997 Dodge Stratus braved the scary boilerplate and
concrete walls of the Speedway to drive Rick's surprisingly fast
course. Bobby Smith had the FTD (35.912 seconds) as usual, in his
blue "improved" 1973 914, but he was followed closely by Jeffrey
Elmore at 36.239 seconds and Rick Ebinger at 36.590 seconds on new
tires. The first three "unimproved" finishers were Emmett Richardson
at 38.363 seconds, Jonathan Newhall at 36.365 seconds (just 2 milliseconds
slower!), and Jim Condon at 38.495 seconds. Here are all of the
autocross results by
time and by
class, and here are the
autocross photos.

More photos to come...

May History Quiz by Harry
Kennison:
May 2012

Here is this month's history quiz to test your knowledge of the
infamous and famous within the Porsche Club of America's Shenandoah
Region as we travel in the "wayback machine" to 2008:

Questions:

In 2008 Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham added a unique Porsche race
car to their collection. What was it and why was it significant?

Shenandoah Club President Herb Distefano related an "unpleasant
personal experience" that happened to him while driving his 2005 911
Carrera Coupe. What was it and what Porsche design shortcoming made
it worse?

The Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) Concours found a new "home" in
2008. Where was it?

In 2008 a very special sponsor of the annual Richmond Porsche Meet
(RPM) was recognized for their continued financial contributions to
this showcase event. Who was it and why is his or her contribution so
significant?

The Heat Exchanger underwent some major changes in 2008. What were
they?

Bonus Question: Synergy Racing's annual "Fall Fling" at Virginia
International Raceway included a banquet with a nostalgic theme. What
was the theme and what was the centerpiece for the banquet?

Answers:

Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham added a historically interesting
Porsche race car to their stable which strangely never turned an
actual lap in competition. It was none other than the ill-fated 1980
Porsche Indy Car to be driven by Danny Ongais in that year's Indy 500.
Its speed in early testing caught the eye of other teams who, led by
racing legend A. J. Foyt, successfully lobbied USAC, the governing
body, to reduce the Porsche's turbocharger boost to slow it down. One
month prior to the start of practice for the 500, USAC issued a
technical bulletin cutting the Porsche allowable boost and the Company
immediately responded by canceling their Indy Car program. The car
came to the Scrogham's garage complete with a spare engine.

Herb Distefano's "unpleasant personal experience" involved a right
rear tire blowout in his 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera with less than 7,000
miles on the tires. After fishtailing to a stop on the side of the
road, Herb thought he might be able to use the air pump and "fix flat"
container provided by Porsche with the car to get him down the road to
a gas station. Unfortunately, the inside sidewall of the tire was
destroyed and there was no inflated spare tire for this model by
factory design. Herb, who admitted to forgetting his Sunday school
lessons once or twice during the incident, had to order a new set of
tires (five-day wait) and arrange to retrieve his car. According to
Herb, there's no easy fix as an inflatable spare takes up 100% of the
trunk space, or you have to place it in the jump seats in the rear.

The 2008 Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) found a new home for the
Concours event which was hosted by Howard and Leanne Faunce at their
lovely James River front home. The Faunces hosted the RPM Concours
event four years. Due to bridge construction near the Faunces home,
the 2012 Concours event will be moved from the Faunces to the home
of their neighbors, Court and Kathy Spotts, who aren't even Porsche
owners, yet! Their address is 6101 River Road, Richmond, Virginia and
directions to this year's RPM Concours event can be found
here.

At the 2008 Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM), Club President Herb
Distefano gave a special "shout out" to Joy Tupper for her continued
financial support of the Shenandoah's annual premier event. Joy was
the mother of Gail Smith and Alex Smith's mother-in-law. Unlike other
RPM sponsors who had products or services to sell members, Joy
supported the premier Shenandoah event because of her love for
Porsches and the Shenandoah Region. Joy passed away in 2010.

Phil Audibert stepped down as the Heat Exchanger's award-winning
editor, a post in which he had served for six years. Rebecca Morgan
and Mark Stubbs were named the new editors of the Heat Exchanger and
wasted no time dramatically changing the publication to an 8.5" x 11"
format featuring glossy, color cover photos and a fresh, design
inside. Wow!

Bonus Question Answer: At the 2008 "Fall Fling" banquet the theme was
"James Dean," legendary movie star and Porsche racer. The center
piece of the banquet was silver 550 Spyder provided by none other than
Weldon Scrogham.

Russ's Ramblings by Bruce
Russell: May 2012

I have to admit that I was very saddened with the passing of
Dr. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche on April 5th. Dr. Porsche (aka Butzi)
did more to define the Porsche marque than anyone else in the history
of Porsche A.G.. Butzi designed the 911 which was introduced to the
world in 1963. The iconic 911 is the sports car that the world
associates with Porsche and it has been that way for 49 years. An
incredible achievement in my opinion.

I will always remember the 1963 picture of Butzi sitting on the left
front fender of the new 911. He had a smiling look of approval on his
face; I wonder why!

I attended two of Shenandoah Region's events during the last month,
although there has been a full slate of events to pick from. There
has been a couple of very nice driving tours and the Autocross season
is off to a "flying" start.

On May 5th, the Shenandoah and First Settlers Regions had a joint event
here in Richmond. The event started with First Settlers' regular
monthly breakfast meeting at the Silver Diner. These breakfast
meetings are fun and a good to time for me to catch up with PCA
friends who live here in Richmond and belong to the First Settlers Region.
After the breakfast, the "party" moved a mile down Broad Street to
Concours Detailing.

Concours Detailing is known in the Richmond area for making something
ordinary look exceptional, and they do it very well. We were treated
to demonstrations of how the Concours technicians work their magic.
Cleaning and detailing a car is not rocket science, but is does take
having the proper equipment, car care products, and time. Of course,
there is a proper sequence of steps to achieve the "exceptional" look.
The folks at Concours took us through all the steps as they actually
detailed a car. They explained what products and equipment they use
to achieve that Concours look. Many questions were asked during the
demonstrations and a lot of very good information was shared.

Concours also demonstrated their installation of clear
paint-protection film to a new car. I am always amazed at the
demonstration of applying the film to the forward-facing surfaces of a
car. If you have ever tried to apply the film yourself, you will
appreciate seeing a professional installation with NO air bubbles
under the film. I have the 3M paint-protection film on my Carrera. I
love it because it saves the front of my car from the perils of
"road rash" and the acidic damage caused by squished bugs. I also
have the film on my wife's new Honda Accord. Good stuff.

I couple of my work colleagues from the police department joined me
for the breakfast and the Concours demonstrations. One of the gents
is a British sports car guy and the other gent has a 1966 Sting Ray.
They do not own a Porsche, but they love sports cars and that is fine
with me.

The event ended with a wonderful catered lunch provided by Concours
Detailing. We were treated to "world-class" BBQ and fixin's from Buzz
& Ned's BBQ. Buzz & Ned's is a Richmond institution and is not to be
missed if you like Virginia BBQ. Thanks to the folks at Concours
Detailing for the great event!

On May 17th I attended a rare mid-week event at the Insurance
Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) in Ruckersville. I know you have
seen the crash testing videos of a new car being driven at 45 mph into
a solid wall as the crash dummies get hurled around inside the
car...this is the place that does that testing. I must confess I never
knew this facility was located right in our backyard!

The event was organized by our member Keith Welty, and Keith did an
outstanding job. I was surprised how well attended the event was for
a Thursday morning. Maybe we should have more weekday even...hint,
hint.

The event started with an hour-long presentation about the IIHS, how it is
funded, what types of crash testing they do, and some of the empirical
studies they released on car safety. The presentation was done in a
huge hangar-like room. Probably 30+ cars they have crash tested are
on display; this is just a sample of all the cars they have tested.
They even have a 1959 Chevrolet Bel-Air that they crash tested against
a new car. Trust me when I tell you the old cars were built like
tanks, but did not provide very much occupant protection in a crash.
No, there were no crashed Porsches on display.

The young lady making the presentation was extremely knowledgeable
about all the crash test vehicles that were on display and the results
of all those tests. My head was spinning and she just moved on to the
next topic.

The highlight of the day was the actual crash test of a new Chevy
Malibu into a tractor-trailer rig. If you have ever driven behind a
tractor-trailer, you will note a metal bar that hangs down from the
rear of the trailer. This bar is to prevent a car from going under
the trailer in a frontal collision. If the bar were not there, the
crash would have catastrophic consequences for the automobile's
occupants because the car would ride under the trailer and cut the top
of the car off. The test we observed from the observation balcony was
the Malibu driven at 35 mph ramming into the rear of the trailer to
test the strength of the metal bar.

If you had been driving the Chevy Malibu, you would most likely have
survived with only minor injuries if any at all. The metal bar on the
trailer did its job and the car handled the crash very well. Let
me stop and digress for a moment. In my job with the police
department, I respond to numerous automobile crashes. Today's cars
are very safe, especially those with the side and side-curtain
airbags. We see more injury from the airbag "explosions" that occur
during a crash than from actual crash damage to the vehicle. But
remember, if the airbags did not deploy the chances are very good your
injuries would be much more serious; airbags work.

After the excellent tour and demonstration at IIHS, we all adjourned
to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch and fellowship. All in all,
it was a very fun and informative day. I drove back to Richmond at 35
mph!

Our Region management team has a great slate of events planned as we
head into summer. RPM is right around the corner; I hope to see you
there.

Until next time, drive safe.

Bob Brown taking the checkered flag at Oak Tree First Settlers Region Spring DE at VIR

The weather was perfect for the First Settlers Region Spring DE
(driver's ed) at VIR, May 18–20. (See the
photos that go along with this
text.) Shenandoah Region drivers included "Mad Mel" Brannan, Hamish
Brookeman, Bob Brown, Rachael Clark, Jim Condon, Matt and Holly
Einstein, David Israel, Erin Israel (just back from a maternity
leave), John Kessler, Scott Leopold, Emmett Richardson, Sherry Westfall, and Ed
Weidner. Mel's 964 is distinctly faster on the straights, thanks to a
new supercharger. Jim and Sherry brought their 2007 Cayman S to the
track for the first time. Congratulations to Ed Weidner (first time
at VIR) and Bob Brown (first full DE). From the Richmond Area, Steve
Sarfaty drove his recently-detailed and still shiny BMW, and Scott
Reisenweaver brought his new track weapon, a GT3. Tom Bobbitt came
back from Florida to drive his GT3RS.

A
crashed Chevy at the IIHSA Car Crash and Lunch: Located in the scenic foothills of
the Blue Ridge Mountains in Greene County is
the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety (IIHS), a non-Government and non-profit agency whose
mission is "reducing the losses—deaths, injuries, and property
damage—from crashes on the nation's roads," and reducing the claims
that the insurance industry has to pay, no doubt. Keith Welty made a
reservation with the IIHS so we could tour their facility and watch
their test of a Chevrolet Malibu underriding a semitrailer on
May 17.

The tone of the tour was set as soon as we entered the building.
In the foyer were two old wrecked Chrysler LeBarons. Their real
on-road crash was the first in which air bags in both cars deployed.
Both cars were totaled, but both drivers walked away. (To see the
cars described throughout this article, look at these
photos.) Then our tour guide
rounded everybody up and led us to a huge room filled with wrecks from
the many IIHS test collisions. The IIHS is to be commended for its
extremely informative displays and clear presentations.

To illustrate how much safer modern cars are than older and
supposedly stronger cars, the IIHS crashed a modern Chevy into a big
old 1959 Chevy. Both cars were totaled, but the front of the modern
Chevy crumpled and sacrificed itself to save the passenger
compartment, which remained intact. In contrast, the stiff hood of
the old Chevy got pushed into the passenger compartment, which
partially collapsed and failed to protect the driver.

The original government crash test simply drove every car into a
barrier, which is equivalent to a head-on collision with a car of the
same mass (weight). This test made small, light cars look good but
failed to take into account conservation of momentum. In real
collisions, light cars tend to do worse than heavy ones. The tiny
"Smart Car" did well in the government barrier test but badly when the
IIHS crashed it into a Mercedes.

Rollovers account for many fatalities, so the IIHS built a rollover
simulator, a giant press that squashes the roof of a car by applying a
force equal to four times the car's weight. If the roof collapses
more than a few inches, the driver is likely to be hurt.

Most crashes are not head-on, so the IIHS simulates a wide variety
of collisions, including straight-on collisions in which the cars are
offset and sideswipe each other and "T-bone" collisions in which one
car hits the side of another. Not only do these IIHS tests provide a
lot more safety information than the old government tests, the published IIHS
safety ratings spur car manufacturers to redesign their new models and make
them safer. If you must crash, do it in a heavy new car!

The collision we watched involved a Chevy Malibu crashing into the
rear of a parked semitrailer. This didn't test the car itself, but
rather the collision bar below the rear of the semitrailer. A badly
designed collision bar can decapitate the front-seat passengers (see
the photo of another Chevy Malibu that underran a badly designed bar).
Shortly before the crash, we were led into another large room with the
semitrailer waiting at one end, and the victim car was at the end of a
long tunnel at the other end. 750000 watt floodlights were turned on,
and the movie cameras rolled. The car was accelerated to about 50 mph
and crashed into the truck. I had expected to hear the sound of
crunching metal and shattering glass, but all I heard was a loud
"Bang!" like a gunshot. It was the sound of the airbags going off.
Unfortunately, the IIHS does not all me to post photos of the crash
itself; the crash data are proprietary.

This tech session was a real eye-opener. If you missed it this time, be
sure to catch it when you can in the future. Everybody paid attention and left with a new
appreciation of crash safety. Except possibly Jim Condon and Sherry
Westfall, who drove in the DE at VIR later that weekend.

Joseph Moshier's 1977 911S

Autocross #2 at Verona

Our second "official" autocross was held at the Augusta Government
Center on Saturday, May 12, and the weather was great.
Rick set up a very nontechnical (read "fast") course with high-speed
turns into and out of the longest straight. Brandon Brickner drove a
51.638 second FTD in his 2011 Subaru WRX, closely followed by Rick
Ebinger in Susan Bryant's 2004 Boxster S and Jeffrey Elmore in his
"improved" class 2000 Boxster S. Jim Condon and Sherry Westfall
benefitted from new R-compound Nitto NT01 track tires on their 2007
Cayman S, which they were testing in preparation for the May 18–20
FSR DE at VIR. The Mazda Mafia of Ray Schumin, Mick Seal, and David
Miller was quick, as usual. Jonathan Newhall showed up with a "new"
car, a 2004 GTO. Here are the results sorted
by time and by
class.
More photos...

A line of Porsches arriving at Concours
Detailing on Broad Street in Richmond

The First Settlers and Shendandoah Regions held a joint event in
Richmond on Saturday, May 5. First, we had breakfast
at the Art Deco style Silver Diner (see the breakfast photos). After the
breakfast, we drove to Concours Detailing to admire the special cars
on display and for a tech session that demonstrated car detailing,
installation of protective plastic film, and repair and restoration of
leather upholstery. The tech session was followed by a great barbeque
lunch provided by Concours Detailing, and finally an informative talk
by Dave Lasch on concours preparation and judging at our upcoming RPM.
Concours Detailing photos...

Over 35 Porsches from the First Settlers and Shenandoah regions of the
PCA gathered at the Silver Diner for breakfast in Richmond on
Saturday, May 5. They were headed to Concours Auto Detailing on West
Broad Street to watch Lewis Ward and his crew perform magic and to
hear a presentation on Concours judging.

A BMW M-3 sat in the washing
bay and presented itself very well. It was clean and tidy, and I did
not see how they could improve on it much. However, I was wrong.
After a wash, three stages of finer and finer buffing, and a final
hand washing, the red M-3 popped. It was stunning! Imagine what
Lewis and his crew could do with a real car like a Porsche.

I had pre-arranged to have the 3-M film replaced on the dog legs of
my '96 Iris Blue 993 as the old film was dull and blemished. The new
film allowed the paint to shine through very clearly without scars and
provided much needed future protection.

Not only does Concours Auto Detailing do great work, they also have
excellent taste in food. Buzz and Ned's Real Barbeque, provided by
Concours, was outstanding. An easy Saturday including blueberry
pancakes, barbeque, and Porsches is hard to beat.

We concluded with a presentation and discussion on Concours judging
led by Dave Lasch. The Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) on June 2nd
provides an opportunity to have your car judged in an informative,
low-key event. Judging is done through a consistent, friendly, and
educational process. The Concours experience enables the owner to
improve his or her car as areas that need improvement are pointed out
by the judges.

Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we
can stay in touch with you. Here
are instructions on how to
change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership.

Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards

Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards Scenic Driving Tour

The recently unreliable weather gods smiled on our April 29
scenic driving tour from the Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards in North
Garden to King Family Vineyards in Crozet. Pippin Hill has a new
tasting room and restaurant located at the top of a hill with
spectacular views of nearby farms and mountains. After lunch, Lynne Taylor
and Sherry Westfall led a scenic tour through western Albemarle county.
Lady Porsche drivers included Beth McKenney and Robin Wintzer. We ended
up at King Family Vineyards for a late-afternoon wine tasting.
More photos...

Steve Garstang and his amphibious Boxster

Autocross #1 at Verona

The Shenandoah Region's first "official" autocross at the Augusta
Government Center on Saturday, April 28 was distinguished by
a rare and unexpected monsoon beginning about 11 AM, just as the first
heat of Porsches started. The rain quicky washed away the flour lines
marking the course, and the visibility was poor, so more than one
driver got lost on the way to the finish line. The corner workers
braved the weather under umbrellas or, in one case, under the old
semitrailer near the course. Fortunately, the rain tapered off around
noon, and by the end of the day the sun was shining and the parking
lot was dry. Everybody's times improved significantly as the course dried out,
and three Mazdas had the fastest times, aided by the fact that the "other" cars
were the last to run. The fastest Porsche was Brian Lay's 1986 911, and the FTD went to
David Lingenfelter in his 1997 Mazda MX5. Here are the results sorted
by time and by
class.
More photos...

Bernie and Harry Kennison on tour

Homestead Resort Scenic Driving Tour–April 15, 2012By Bernie Kennison

My first driving tour with the Shenandoah Region and I'm addicted!
Yes, I previously assumed these tours were just a bunch of men
"burning gas." And, yes, I've even been put out on the highway by the
side of the road and told by my husband, Harry, to "watch me go by
really fast." It's the price we pay for being the women who love them
(the cars I'm talking about).

Anyway, every tour won't be as scenic and beautiful as this one; the
temperature was perfect for "top down" motoring. Having set out from
the Target in Waynesboro near the front of the pack of nine Porsches,
I found it was better in the second half of the tour when we were near
the rear because you got to watch all those gorgeous Porsches ahead of
you. The sound of the engines is pretty neat too! Every stop sign is
the equivalent of tearing out of the pits in a Formula 1 car at Spa
[home of the Belgian Grand Prix]. I
never sought out my "Adele" CD, as the sound of the Porsches was more
than enough music for my ears. The fisherman on the rocks and rapids
along the Maury River Road reminded me of the movie, "A River Runs
Through It" and, of course, the vistas were amazing.

We met new friends from the First Settlers Region, Rob and Regina
McDonough. Turns out Regina picked the colors of their spectacular
linen and natural leather interior 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. If you
need help picking the colors for your next Porsche, Regina is your
go-to person and I believe she'll help you out in exchange for a large
bottle of body lotion from the Homestead Spa.

I also met Amy Harmon and her husband Paul. As it turns out he's a
child therapist who assured me that 13 year-old girls who glare at you
(I have one living next door!) will change when they're 17. Only four
more years to go for some relief! I'm more convinced than ever that a
two-seater Boxster is definitely the way to travel during those four
years.

So, to summarize my first Porsche driving tour: top-down 82 degree
weather, beautiful scenery, interesting people, excellent lunch at the
Homestead Casino restaurant, and, yes, the roar of the engines. Oh,
and Mike Cirino is better than having your own Garmin GPS as he tells
you not only where to go but even lets you know if there's a bump in
the road. One more thing, the "Sweeper" driver did an excellent job
too! Her business card should read:
Sherry Westfall
President & Master Sweeper Driver
Porsche Club of America Shenandoah Region

For those of you who couldn't make it, you missed a great tour! How
about the same drive next year?More photos...

Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we
can stay in touch with you. Here
are instructions on how to
change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership.

Rex McClure wrestling his hot 911T around the keyhole

An Autocross School and Test & Tune

The Shenandoah Region's first autocross day at the Augusta Government
Center included an autocross school plus a "Test & Tune" on Saturday, March 31.
The morning was devoted to instruction and practice. Rick Ebinger
divided the drivers into two groups based on their autocross
experience, and he took the beginning group to the keyhole at the east
end of the course to explain how autocross courses are designed and
driven. Meanwhile, Erik Boody took the more experienced drivers to
the south end of the parking lot for practice runs. After about an
hour, the two groups switched locations. Then there was a brief
break, and the two groups each got two sets of three runs on the full
autocross course. The timer was set up so drivers could check their
progress, but the times won't count for points in the "official"
autocross season that will begin on April 28.

The autocross school and "Test & Tune" were successful in attracting a number of new drivers
in both Porsches and in other marques. We can only hope to have such good turnouts
(and such good weather) throughout the autocross season.
More photos...

Zone 2 Rep Tom Zaffarano drove car #1 2012 Zone 2 DE at VIR

The first track event of the year for most of us is the Zone 2 PCA DE
(driver's ed) at VIR. It is very popular because it is well run and
because DE junkies are desperate to get back on track after a long
winter layoff; its main drawback is the threat of cold and rainy March
weather. This year we got lucky with three warm, dry, and mostly
sunny days (March 16–18) of driving. It rained the night of
March 15, so March 16 started out with some ground fog and a damp
track, but the intrepid "white" run group went out first and dried off
the track for the rest of us. (See the
photos that go
along with this text.)

The Shenandoah Region was well represented by drivers "Mad Mel"
Brannan, Rachael Clark, George Coles, Jim Condon, Fritz Flynn, David Israel, Erin and
Sean Israel (not driving), Scott Leopold, Jim Ottaway, Emmett
Richardson, and Sherry Westfall. The usual suspects from the Richmond
mafia in First Settlers included Brian Coey, Perrin DesPortes, Marco
Estrada, Carl Gerster, Phil Grandfield, Bret Jacobson, Jacob Kay, Scott Reisenweaver,
Cliff Reynolds, Steve Sarfaty, Bud Syme, and Damien Walsh. Zone 2 Rep
Tom Zaffarano was the DE chairman and drove his silver 964 C4 (photo
above), and PCA President Manny Alban showed up in his unmistakable
polka-dot 964 "Wunderbred". Mel's 964 lost a throwout bearing early
on, but he got back on track in a borrowed Audi. Emmett had major
suspension work done on his 997S by Lufteknic, and he spent most of
the weekend learning to drive an essentially new car. Four month old
Sean Israel rode along on a few charity laps, and Erin will resume
driving soon.

The horsepower arms-race continues: there were 44 GT3's at the event!
Unmodified GT3's were the "momentum" cars in the "red" run group.

Non-Porsche entertainment included the really loud squealing sounds
from a drifting school on the dry skidpad and a flyover by several
Apache helicopters whose pilots circled the track a few times to enjoy
the Porsche show below.

Weldon Scrogham, founder of G&W Motorwerkes, Ltd. and a widely
recognized authority on all things Porsche, has been a judge at
Florida's prestigious Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance for 16 of its
17 years. To put that into perspective, peruse this sampling of the
2012 judges list at Amelia: former drivers Derek Bell, Brian Redman,
Bob Bondurant, David Hobbs, Vic Elford, Sam Posey, and Johnny
Rutherford, plus motoring journalists William Jeanes, Denise
McCluggage, Jean Jennings, Ken Gross, Keith Martin, Matt Stone, and
Robert Cumberford.

As Scrogham puts it, he had a good excuse for not being at the
first Amelia Concours, even though event founder and chairman Bill
Warner and Scrogham had known each other for years. "I was judging at
Pebble Beach and Bill Warner came running up and said, 'Why don't you
judge at Amelia?' I said I had a good reason because Sebring [race] is
the same weekend."

"He changed it the next year," Scrogham said.

Scrogham and Amelia's Warner raced against each other in the
International Motor Sports Association days and Warner was also an
IMSA photographer. Since its start 17 years ago, the annual car show
on the greens and fairways of the golf resort at the Amelia Island
Ritz-Carlton just north of Jacksonville has grown into the premier
mixed-makes car show east of California.

As you can deduce from the credentials of the judges, racing cars and
Porsches play a big role at this show, but Warner and the charitable
foundation that runs the event cover all bases, from the pre-WWI brass
radiator years through the foreign and domestic classics of the 1920s
and '30s, the flamboyant fifties, and the exciting sports and
high-performance cars and dream cars of the decades since. The owners
of 300 cars were invited to the 2012 event and 296 of them answered
the call. (See these Photos
by Greg Glassner from the 2012
event.)

Special displays this year included a variety of Shelby Cobras, a
dozen of the 38 Ferrari GTOs in existence, Chevy Corvette show cars
and one-offs, and cars raced by 2012 Honoree Vic Elford, including a
Porsche 911 Rally car, two 907s, two 908s, and two 917s, and a Chevy
Chaparral 2-J.

When each car represents the pinnacle of its manufacturer's
craftsmanship, how do you judge a show like this? "I look at it much
differently than most people," Scrogham said. "I ask myself, how
original is this car?" He added that many factory racecars did not
look as good when they actually competed as they do now.

Saturday's panel discussion included many of the aforementioned
judges, plus Jim Hall and Porsche drivers Gerard Larrousse, Hurley
Haywood, and Joe Buzzetta, all with some amusing and poignant
anecdotes to tell. Hobbs took a lot of good-natured ribbing from the
other drivers on how slow he actually drove.

Scrogham, who also judges many PCA events, began his long association
with Porsches and motor sports in 1967 by racing a Speedster in SCCA
competition. He graduated to the Daytona 24 hours and 12 Hours of
Sebring endurance races by 1968. "Bob Holbert ran an RSK and I had a
skinny-tired Speedster," he remembered.

His PCA associations also date back that far. He was president of the
First Settlers Region in 1968–69 and was instrumental in founding the
Shenandoah Region when the membership expanded. His wife Phyllis and
son Cole have also served as presidents, and the Scroghams have kept
our region going and hosted many events over the years. Although the
cars are the stars at Amelia, Scrogham credits the people, from the
volunteers, to entrants, to retired drivers, for making the event what
it is.

"It starts out, like everything, with people. That's how things
started out, with people. And you still have to go with good people,"
he said.

"When the people assembled include multiple race winners at Sebring,
Daytona, Watkins Glen, Le Mans, the Nurburgring, and the Targa Florio,
there is a lot of camaraderie and a lot of good stories get passed
around," he added.

This year, Scrogham was also responsible for selling the Drendel
Family collection of Porsches at Friday's Gooding & Co. Auction at
Amelia Island.

He tells about lingering over a very entertaining lunch with Elford,
Redman, and Bell, all former Porsche drivers, when he and Elford both
realized they were due over at the auction on the other side of the
island, and that Elford's ride hadn't arrived. "I said I'd take him,
but Vic wanted to wait for his ice cream. So we grabbed two ice creams
and raced over there," Scrogham said.

It turned out OK, an understatement. The Drendel Porsches broke 11
sales records for a total of $17.8 million, with one of the cars, a
Porsche 917/30 Can-Am hammered down at $4.4 million. Although
discretion prevents Scrogham from discussing who bought which car,
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, a noted Porsche collector, has been reported
to be the purchaser of two big-ticket Porsches.

So I had to ask Scrogham a question posed by fellow PCA Shenandoah
member Keith Welty, namely, how did a G&W Motorwerkes sticker get on
the refrigerator in the apartment set of Seinfeld's TV show?

Weldon said he wasn't aware of it.
Then he explained, "I guess I sold him three cars about ten years ago, a 550 Spyder, a Speedster, and a Carrera."

Postcard from Amelia Islandby Harry Kennison

Shenandoah member (and historian) Harry Kennsion just us sent
this "postcard" collage of photos from
the March 9–11, 2012
Amelia Island Concours
d'Elegance. What an amazing collection of Porsches! I bet you
wish you were there.

The photo on the left shows Harry next to the
famous number
59 Brumos Porsche 935 turbo that Peter Gregg drove to the 1979
IMSA GT Championship. See Harry's "Vintage
Corner" article
on "Peter Perfect" and his domination of IMSA racing in the 1970's.

Darrell and Chad Hurst(2009 RPM Concours)

Darrell Hurst
by Cole Scrogham
March 8, 2012

Shenandoah has lost one of its founding members, Darrell Hurst, 73, of
Staunton, VA. Darrell passed away on March 1 at Martha Jefferson
Hospital after a long battle with liver cancer. He leaves behind a
wife, Lida Hurst; two children, Chad and Holly, along with several
stepchildren and grandchildren. Darrell was previously married to
Ginger, who is a regular with Chad at many Shenandoah events. A brief
segment from Darrell's obituary follows:

Darrell Hurst(2007 RPM)

Dedicated, energetic, distinguished—these words only begin to
describe Dr. Hurst, a 1963 East Carolina University BA recipient with
a double major in history and English, as well as an MA in English
(1967). He completed his doctorate of English education at University
of Virginia and then pursued his passion for teaching. He began his
teaching career at Staunton Military Academy and in 1967 subsequently
moved on to become adjunct faculty at James Madison University,
University of Virginia, and for the SAKE and SHIGA Japanese-English
Immersion Program at Mary Baldwin College. Dr. Hurst's longest tenure,
however, has been as professor of English and humanities at Blue Ridge
Community College, where he was a founding faculty member when the
college opened its doors in 1967 and remained until his passing. A
celebration of life service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church
in Staunton on March 17th at 11am.

I had known Darrell for many years even before trying to start the
Shenandoah Region. He always enjoyed Porsches, and the connection to
the marque was a way for Darrell and Chad to enjoy something
together. It was quite a struggle to find 25 Porsche owners in the
area that were willing to sign on as Charter Members, but when I
called they were both very interested and helped get the momentum
going.

Darrell was particularly interested in organizing tours to a fun
destination. I remember one in particular to the Homestead that was a
lot of fun. We caravanned over the mountains in a string of cars, from
a new 1989 Speedster to my old 1967 912, following Darrell and Chad in
their 911S. Was that Bahama Yellow? The 911S was easy to find: Darrell
had one of the first "vanity" license plates in the area that sported
a rather obscure name...HECUBA.

I wasn't sure what that meant and was a little afraid to ask since I
knew Darrell was an English teacher and I didn't want a lecture. For a
while I thought he was some kind of closet communist or something, but
came to learn he associated the yellow 911S with an ancient Greek
tragedy and the main character named, you guessed it, Hecuba.

Darrell was always willing to help out with the club, and always with
a smile. He enjoyed his cars, but most of all he enjoyed being around
them with his family. Whether leading a tour, or driving to
Charlottesville for a UVA game, Darrell was one of the first who
recognized "It's not just the cars, it's the people." His
contribution, energy and friendship will be missed.

Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we
can stay in touch with you. Here
are instructions on how to
change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership.

March History Quiz by Harry Kennison:
March 2012

Here is this month's history quiz to test your knowledge of the
infamous and famous within the Porsche Club of America's Shenandoah
Region as we travel in the "wayback machine" to 2007:

Questions:

In March 2007 the Shenandoah Region held its largest Autocross in Club
history. Where was it? Who sponsored it? Who set Fastest Time of
the Day?

At the 2007 Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) who won the Concours "shine"
award in the late model 911 Class as well as "Best of Show?"

In August 2007 the Shenandoah Region added 29 new members to its
ranks, an all time record for the Region. What caused this jump in
membership?

Which long-time Shenandoah Club member won the "Boomerang" Comeback
Award for 2007?

Susie and Phil Audibert led the 2008 Fall Foliage Tour for the second
year in a row. What car do they drive in the Tour and what is its
name?

Bonus Question: At the 2007 Porsche Parade in San Diego, what Porsche
Club of America Zone Challenge did Zone Two which includes the
Shenandoah Region win? Who represented the Shenandoah Region on the
Zone Two team?

Answers:

The first Autocross of the 2007 season took place the end of March at
Richmond International Raceway. It was sponsored by Euroclassics Porsche of
Richmond and attracted 46 entrants. The event offered the opportunity
to drive on a 14 degree, big-bank oval track just like the NASCAR
boys. Despite all the heavy-hitter new cars entered (GT-3's, 997s,
996s, Cayman S's and Boxster S's) it was Safety Chairman Erik Boody in
his 1973 911 who set fastest time of the day. Chess Earman hustled
his Cayman S to second place and Tom Stenzel in his 2004 GT-3 finished
third overall.

At the 2007 Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) Alex Smith, RPM Chairman, won
the Shine Award in the late model 911 Class with his GT3 and Alex also
won the "People's Choice" Award for Best of Show.

In the biggest single one month jump in its history, the Shenandoah
Region added 29 new members during August to bring our total primary
member count to 198. Although it had been rumored that the Membership
Chair, Rebecca Morgan, was chasing down Porsches at stop lights and
making them sign up on the spot, she claimed she had nothing to do
with it. She gives all the credit to Mark Cooke at Euroclassics
Porsche in Richmond who decided to pay for one-year memberships for
everyone who bought a Porsche from Euroclassics throughout 2007. This
is just one more example of the tremendous support Shenandoah has
received from Mark and his Euroclassics team over the years.

"Mad Mel" Brannan received a "Boomerang" Comeback Award for returning
to the track after undergoing back surgery.

Susie and Phil Audibert led the second annual Fall Foliage Tour in
their green Porsche 356C affectionately known as "The Green Bean."

Bonus Question Answer: At the Porsche Parade in San Diego the Zone Two
Porsche Club of America won the Sand Castle Challenge event. The team
which consisted of 35 sand-digging members, including Shenandoah's
Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham, completed "Wolfgang's Castle" in two
hours which featured a bridge, moat and German flags lining the route
to the top.

Russ's Ramblings by Bruce
Russell: March 2012

This has to be one of the mildest winters I can remember here in
central Virginia. So with Mother Nature giving us a "pass" from
winter's grip, Mary Jean and I decided to capitalize on the mild
temperatures and take a short trip in the Porsche.

We headed up to White Sulphur Springs, WV for a short stay at
The Greenbrier resort.
Timing was perfect because we were blessed with mild weather, winter
room rates, and no crowds. In addition, The Greenbrier gives military
personal (active, retired or veteran) a 20 percent discount off your
room rate. You do need to show your military ID, so be sure to take
it with you if you are planning a stay at The Greenbrier.

We have stayed at The Greenbrier a couple of times in the past, but we
wanted to see what had changed since the specious property was
purchased by Mr. Jim Justice from the CSX corporation a couple of
years ago. In addition, since our last visit about four years ago, a
night club and casino have been added and
the Bunker
has been opened for public guided tours.

First, let me say I was a bit worried about parking my "baby" in the
self-park lot (no Valet touches my Carrera). My worries were allayed
because I was invited to park in the VIP circle adjacent to the Grand
Portico entrance of the hotel. I have to admit she looked good
sparkling in all her Guards Red radiance against the celestial white
backdrop of this grand hotel.

We had the Bunker tour scheduled at 1:30 pm on the day of our arrival.
We arrived a little before noon and planned to get some lunch before
the tour. We were advised by the front desk that our room was already
available. Official check-in time is 4:00, so this was a very
pleasant surprise.

The bunker was a secret US government facility opened in 1961 and is
located under the west wing of the hotel. Its purpose was to provide
an underground fallout shelter for the US Congress in case of a
nuclear attack on the United States. You need to remember this secret
facility was build during the Cold War and was to allow the government
of the United States to remain functional even after a nuclear attack.
The President and Vice-President would have gone to various other
secret facilities located elsewhere in the United States.

The guided tour and the video presentation of the Bunker take about 90
minutes and are well worth the price of admission. It is a
fascinating story and one you should not miss if you are in the area.
The bunker tours are open to both hotel guests and visitors, but you
do need to call the hotel and make an advance tour reservation.

The all new nightclub and casino are "Top Shelf" and a real
first-class operation. I was a bit worried that the casino would be
like the Atlantic City strip with tour buses streaming in 24
hours a day. That is not the case because only hotel guests are
allowed in the casino and they have a "business casual" dress code
that is enforced. It is a wonderful gaming environment with Slots,
Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and table Poker games.

I have never seen a one cent (i.e. penny!) slot machine before. I had
to try it and after pumping about eight cents into the machine, it
started playing all by itself and doing crazy things. After the
festival of lights and sound, I was awarded 500 pennies! Now I can
afford that coke. I spent about an hour playing the various gaming
venues while Mary Jean enjoyed some nice wine in the nightclub. It
was a lot of fun, even for a non-gamer like me. I must admit I played
Craps and had NO IDEA what was going on, even though I won a few bucks
on that table also.

The meals were great and you are offered several choices of dining
opportunities. One night we ate in Jerry West's Prime 44 restaurant.
Superb food (mostly steaks and seafood) at a premium price. If you do
not care for the "5-Star" dining experience, you can get a burger and
fries in the nightclub adjacent to the casino. I will just summarize
by saying you will not starve while staying at The Greenbrier.

On our return trip from The Greenbrier, we made a side stop in my
hometown of Clifton Forge which is located in the Alleghany Highlands
of Virginia. My first stop in Clifton was to fill-up with premium
ethanol-free gasoline at the East Coast Petro station on W. Ridgeway
Street. My car runs so much better with pure gasoline. Just two
blocks east of the gas station is a very nice eating establishment
named Jack Mason's Tavern. It is a relatively new establishment with
a very nice menu and an ample selection of beverages. It is clean,
cozy and a fun spot to stop for a bite to eat and something to quench
your thirst.

The primary purpose of our stop in Clifton Forge was to visit the
Chesapeake and Ohio
(Railroad) Heritage Center
located on E. Ridgeway Street. Most of my mother's family had some
direct connection to the C&O Railroad, so the railroad was a big part
of my youth. We took the guided tour of the six acre facility. They
had an old passenger depot, a freight depot, a switch tower,
maintenance shed (w/handcars), a beautiful steam locomotive, a
passenger dining and baggage car, and a couple of old cabooses. The
tour takes about an hour and you are allowed to climb, wander and
explore all the exhibits. If you are in or around Clifton Forge, I
think you would enjoy this look back at the golden era of rail travel.

It was a great little winter getaway with spring-like weather. I took
some of my favorite back roads and byways that the Carrera enjoys. I
recently dialed in some addition negative camber on the front
suspension and I am very pleased with the results. There was
noticeable reduction in oversteer and the car now "glides" through the
twisties and hairpins along old Route 60 and Route 42. It is darn
near therapeutic medicine to drive these cars on a challenging road!

Until next time, drive safe.

Member Moment: Patrick Tolan
March 2, 2012

I joined the Shenandoah Region Club for my first breakfast and
fun-run Saturday, February 25, meeting up with a large and friendly
group at the Tip Top restaurant. I have been a member for a little
over two years but this is the first I have been able to actually attend
any event. I moved to Charlottesville in August 2009 and shortly
thereafter bought my first Porsche in 30+ years. I found a 2003 911
Cabriolet (photo below) that had a clear history, only two prior owners, and was in
the price range I wanted to spend, so I flew to Ohio to pick it up and
drive it back. Coming into the Shenandoah at the end of the trip,
brought back vividly, why my brother and I used to buy old Porsches to
keep running even when we could not afford it. We started out with a
speedster that we had to use tape to keep the gas pedal linkage
together (going 120 one minute, 0 the next sometimes), graduated to a
new 914-4 (lime green for some reason) for a while, and then an old
but very sound 914-6 to get through graduate school, though it made no
sense (but it was so much fun). Then marriage, kids, etc. and owning a
Porsche became something I would get back to some day.

I came to Charlottesville to work at UVa, where I am a professor
focused on youth development. My new wife and I came here after eight
years of commuting between Chicago and Baltimore until our children
went off to college (that's right: five in college at one time, 20–25
years old). We fell immediately in love with the university, the
city, and the surrounding area. There is so much to do in such a
friendly place.

I am very glad I took the time to get to this breakfast and to start
to make some new friends. I found a friendly and informed group of
people to learn from, spend time with, and share ideas and interests.
I am looking forward to other opportunities to learn more about
driving skills, the care of and capability of my car, and to see more
scenic parts of the surrounds. Makes me think I might need to find a
runnable speedster again—I suspect the cost will be a bit different
than back in 1970!

Breakfast At The Tip Top And A Fun Run to King Family
Vineyards

Twenty-four early risers in at least 15 Porsches
showed up at 8 AM for breakfast at the Tip Top Restaurant on Pantops
Mountain in Charlottesville on a chilly but sunny Saturday, February
25. Restaurant owner Terry Vassalos is a Porsche enthusiast and
collector. He reserved a Porsche parking lot and tables for us, and he
provided complimentary drinks. It was Drew Donaldson's birthday, so
Malcolm Hopker made sure
he received a birthday biscuit (see photos). Johnny Johnson designed
the very scenic tour through Keswick, Gordonsville, Whitehall, and
Crozet to King Family Vineyards. However, Johnny just sold his
Porsche, so Clint Shuler drove the lead car with Johnny as navigator.
Sixteen people in nine Porsches and a huge "Mini" made the tour.
More photos...

Flow Porsche of Charlottesville 991 Launch

Flow Porsche of
Charlottesville hosted their Porsche 991 launch from noon to 2 PM
in variable (to say the least) weather on Saturday, February 11. (See
the launch photos.) The Shenandoah
Board met downstairs from about 10:30 to 11:30 AM. Meanwhile, General
Manager Tyrone Lewis, Sales Manager Jason Robson, and Salesman John
Slaughter led final preparations for the main event. Shenandoah
Region members Eric Huggins, David Armstrong, and Mike Cirino directed
traffic into the reserved Porsche parking lot, and six "ancestors" of
the 991 were lined up along the west wall of the Flow Porsche
showroom. There was a catered lunch, and two musicians provided live
violin and guitar music.

For the "unveiling", Jason surprised everyone by firing up the white
991 Carrera S and driving it out from under its cover on the showroom floor. The
first potential customer to sit in the driver's seat was John
Francis, the older son of members Mark and Caren Francis; he was
followed by Porsche fans of all ages. From the photos you can see the
991 is longer than the 997, and some of that length shows up in the
larger front trunk space. The Panamera influence on the cockpit is clear and apparently will
also be found in the new Boxster to be launched later this year.
Under the rear lid you can't see the engine anymore.

Euroclassics Porsche 991 Launch

Euroclassics
Porsche held their Porsche 991 launch at the Science Museum of
Virginia on the evening of Thursday, February 9. The Science Museum
is located in the old Broad Street train station. The massive stone
globe in front was illuminated by the PORSCHE logo. A Foucault
pendulum hangs from the high dome above the center of the huge waiting
room. Two covered 991's were placed in front of and behind the
pendulum; a wine bar was on the left and a buffet line of hors
d'oeuvres was on the right. You can see some of the beautiful people
from Shenandoah in the
these photos.

At about 8:15 PM the covers were removed from two 991 Carrera S
coupes, one gray and the other black. The 991 still looks like a 911,
but it has evolved to look more like a Panamera coupe—notice the
raised shift lever on the sloping console covered with switches, the
wider hood, and the larger (20 inch) wheels. The rear wheels have
been moved back a few inches to reduce the 991's rear weight bias and
lengthen the wheelbase. Despite it's larger size, the 991 is lighter
than the 997 thanks to several aluminum body panels. The engine is no
longer visible from above; lifting the rear deck lid only exposes an engine
cover and two fans.

February History Quiz by Harry
Kennison:
February 2012

Here is this month's history quiz to test your knowledge of the
infamous and famous within the Porsche Club of America's Shenandoah
Region as we travel in the "wayback machine" to 2006:

Questions:

Heat Exchanger editor Phil Audibert was disturbed by the number of
vehicle/deer accidents that plague Virginia highways and decided to do
a little research. According to the Virginia Transportation Research
Council, how many deer are killed annually on Virginia highways?
a. 12,500
b. 21,000
c. 34,000
d. Over 50,000

Andy Chisholm, a First Settlers Region member, recounted his
1974 trip to the Porsche Parade in Pennsylvania where his 912 dropped
an exahaust valve. With a lot of help from Weldon Scogham and a bunch
of his friends, he was able to get the necessary parts to replace the
faulty valve and make the Autocross held at Pocono Raceway. The
overnight repairs were almost completed, but no one had a can of
lapping compound needed to lap the valve. What did Weldon come up
with to solve Andy's problem?

Porsche ceased production at their Leipzig, Germany plant of what car on May 6, 2006?

On a seven-day "boondoggle" (make that "business trip") to
Stuttgart, Rick Ebinger had the opportunity to take a 1.5 hour tour of
the Porsche factory where they make 911s. Each station along the
production line is alloted 4.8 minutes to complete a task before the
car is moved to the next station. How many 911s did each production
shift put out?

At the 2006 Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) Autocross held at the
Southside Speedway who set the Fastest Time of the Day and what was
the margin of victory? What happened to three-time RPM Autocross
winner Bobby Smith?

Bonus Question: What was the largest Autocross event ever conducted by
the Shenandoah Region through its first ten years and who won the
event?

Answers:

According to the Virginia Transportation Research Council, 34,000
deer are killed by vehicles annually in the state of Virginia. This
not only impacts the deer population, but also repair costs. In 2006
the average repair costs for deer related accidents was $3,000-$5,000.
One could surmise that the cost for fixing your Porsche would be
considerably higher!

In order to complete the overnight valve repair on Andy Chisholm's
912 at the 1974 Porsche Parade in Pennsylvania, he needed to find a
substitute for valve lapping compound. Weldon Scrogham, who had
previously had the necessary parts sent up from his G & W Motorwerkes
in Waynesboro "worked like some mad, ancient alchemist and mixed a
magic potion" composed of Boraxo cleanser and Castrol motor oil that
allowed them to lap the valve and complete the reassembly. How did
Andy do? The next day he not only had his 912 running, but placed
first in the Autocross 912 Class with a lot of help from his friends.

On May 6, 2006 Porsche ceased production of the mid-engined V-10
supercar, the Carrera GT. In all, 1,270 cars were produced between
2004 and 2006 at their Leipzig, Germany plant, with nearly half of the
cars being sold in the United States.

On his business trip to Stuttgart, Rick Ebinger had the opportunity
to take a 1.5 hour tour of the Porsche factory where they make 911s.
Each station in the production process has 4.8 minutes to complete
their assigned tasks before the partially assembled 911 moves on to
the next station. The Porsche factory operates two shifts with each
shift putting out 88 cars each or 176 911s per day.

Rick Ebinger driving his 914 took fastest time of the day in the
Autocross held at Southside Speedway, nosing out friend and Safety
Chairman Erik Boody in his 1973 911T by just 0.307 seconds. Chess
Earman in his Cayman S was third fastest, less than 9/1000ths of a
second behind Erik. Bobby Smith, the Fastest Time of the Day
winner in the previous three RPM Autocrosses, had a driveshaft problem in
his 914.

Bonus Question Answer: The largest Autocross event ever conducted by
the Shenandoah Region through its first ten years was the July 2006
Autocross held at the notorious Richmond International Raceway. The 3/4
mile banked NASCAR oval track challenged 46 drivers with Chess Earman
coming out on top with the fastest time of the day in his 2006 Cayman S.

Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we
can stay in touch with you. Here
are instructions on how to
change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership.

January History Quiz by Harry
Kennison:

Here is this month's history quiz to test your knowledge of the
infamous and famous within the Porsche Club of America's Shenandoah
Region as we travel in the "wayback machine" to 2005:

Which Shenandoah members took top honors in their class at the 2005
Porsche Parade Concours as well as winning the overall Preparation
award and what was their car? (Clue: it's black and quite fast!)

Who won his class in the RC (Remote Control) Car Autocross at the 2005
Porsche Parade and then set Fastest Time of the Day against all
comers?

After finishing 30th overall at the 2005 RPM Autocross held at
Richmond's Southside Speedway, what Shenandoah member said, "I'm an
Early Model driver in a Late Model car"?

Who hosted the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Shenandoah Region
and who was voted the Club's official Head Cook?

Why couldn't Rick Ebinger race his 1974 914 at the August Autocross
held at the Augusta Government Center in Verona, what car did he drive,
and where did he finish?

Bonus Question: Any Porsche Club member who has taken part in one of
Shenandoah's driving tours over the past few years will attest to the
large number of cars and participants. However, it wasn't always
that way. How many cars turned out for the May 2005 tour to the Luray
Caverns Auto Museum?

Answers:

Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham took best in class honors as well as the
overall award for Best Preparation at the 2005 Porsche Parade Concours
held in Hershey, Pennsylvania with their stunning, black Porsche
Carrera GT. They scored 299.6 points out of a possible 300.

Zane Johnson, son of Shenandoah members Johnny and Lisa Johnson, won
his class in the RC (Remote Control) Car Autocross at the 2005 Porsche
Parade. Zane then entered the Adult RC Class and set Fastest Time of
the Day. Not bad for a 15 year old!

After finishing 30th at the 2005 RPM Autocross, Regional Vice
President Herb Distefano, defended his result by stating, "I'm an
Early Model driver in a Late Model car."

Rick Ebinger couldn't race his venerable 914 at the August 2005
Autocross because he didn't have time to trailer his car to and from
the Augusta Government Center and still catch an afternoon flight out
of Charlottesville. Instead of his 914, Rick drove the 1973 911 of
his friend Erik Boody, winding up second overall after doing a
spectacular slide into the cones on an early run. John Kessler ruled
the Autocross that day setting Fastest Time of the Day in his 1971
911.

The 10th Anniversary Celebration was hosted by Herb Distefano at his
beautiful home on Lake Anna, and Bill Sanders was unanimously voted the
Shenandoah Region's Head Cook after grilling burgers and hotdogs for
the 39 members and guests.

Bonus Question Answer: Maybe it was the proximity to the upcoming RPM
event, but only two cars and two people turned out for the Luray
Caverns Auto Mueum tour in May, namely, tour organizers Robert Whissen
and Mike Shutty. According to these two, those who couldn't make it
missed a spirited drive and interesting museum tour!

John Zilles and the IMSA/ALMS Porsche Cayenne Rapid
Response Vehicle, by Greg Glassner:

When drivers try to take a corner at eleven/10ths instead of
ten/10ths, or when the red mist descends and they turn expensive
prototype or GT cars into armored personnel carriers, disaster can
strike. Medical teams and fire crews need to respond within seconds
of racetrack incidents and they must get to the scene quickly and
reliably—lives literally hang in the balance. So it should come
as little surprise that the Rapid Response Vehicle at International
Motor Sports Association (IMSA) sanctioned events is a specially
equipped Porsche Cayenne.

John Zilles, 63, a retired paramedic from Green Bay Wisconsin, drives
the Rapid Response Vehicle, a 500 horsepower twin-turbo Cayenne at all
major IMSA events, including the American LeMans Series (ALMS).

My curiosity was piqued when I saw this white and blue Cayenne on the
grid before the 2010 Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta. So, when it pulled
up to the Porscheplatz before the start of the Baltimore Grand Prix
ALMS race in September, I grabbed my camera, borrowed pen and paper,
and sprang into action.

"I've been doing this a little over 20 years," said Zilles obligingly.
Zilles said he alternates two emergency room physicians riding shotgun
in the Cayenne during race weekends. At Baltimore it was Dr. Greg
Summerville, who is based in New Jersey.

If race control spots something on the track that warrants instant
response, Zilles and his traveling doctor are dispatched, even if cars
are still traveling at speed on the track. Zilles said he believes
IMSA/ALMS is the only sanctioning body and race series that does this.
"The twin-turbo Cayenne is fast enough to not get in the way. We get
going pretty good," he noted. "I don't drive it at 100 percent, but I
drive pretty hard. We have a mutual understanding with the drivers
[who race]."

"When we get there, we are equipped to do anything needed to save a
driver's life. We can take a driver with us, if necessary. Sometimes
the worst accidents are the ones that don't look that bad. We have
pre-treated most of the drivers, which helps in concussion
evaluations."

The design of
race cars and their safety equipment has improved dramatically over
two decades, Zilles said. "In the early IMSA days we had a lot of
rollovers and some major fires," he added. Zilles was dispatched to
the dramatic wreck in 1998 when Yannik Dalmas flipped his Porsche 911
GT1 at the Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta. (You can still view that one
on youtube.com.)

An experienced crew of Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel
follows in two trucks on the heels of the Porsche Cayenne.
"For the first 12 years it was just me and the doc. We have added a
Fire/EMS crew of eight guys, four on each fire truck. All of them are
from the Sebring and Atlanta area. An airline pilot dispatches the
team. He really knows how to communicate in emergency situations,"
Zilles added. "The firefighters are the best problem solvers. We
practice at Sebring, extricating drivers and dealing with the
different fuels used in ALMS. We get the fuels and start fires and
practice getting them out."

Zilles had some dirt track racing experience in his younger years, but
after he was hired by IMSA, he went to a road course driving school to
sharpen his skills behind the wheel. Before the Cayenne came along,
IMSA had a Porsche 928 as a safety vehicle. The Cayenne provides room
for more emergency equipment and can hold Zilles, the doctor and an
injured driver.

Zilles worked for the company that set up a hydraulic extrication
system on the 928. That led to his being hired to drive the Rapid
Response Vehicle. Before that, a retired racing driver drove it.

Although Zilles and his emergency team are paid to work race weekends,
he said, "We're not doing it for the money. We get pay and per
diem. Nobody's come out ahead on that yet." The pilot and the ER
doctors take time off from lucrative professions and one of the
Fire/EMS crew is the Chief of the Sebring, Florida Fire Department,
Zilles said. "We do it for the sport, the drivers and the
people. It's not all about the race cars, but we are all huge race
fans," Zilles said. And, yes, the trackside hospitality and race
weekend parties are also part of the lure, he admitted.

When Zilles turns back the keys to the Cayenne at the end of along
race weekend and heads home to Green Bay, does he have a Porsche of
his own in his garage?

Nope.

"I've got a Chevy Tahoe and an old BMW. I can't afford one of these,"
he said, laying a hand fondly on the Cayenne's hood.

During a presentation Zilles made to PCA members at the Baltimore
G.P. Porscheplatz, he mentioned that the Cayenne is placed in the IMSA
hauler at the end of a weekend, where it rides from race to race.
"When it's turned back to Porsche, you might try to buy it. It would
make a great buy. It's got very low mileage and was only driven by a
little old man on weekends," he joked.

Russ's Ramblings by Bruce
Russell:

Hopefully, everyone had a wonderful holiday season. My holiday was
great except for the fact that Santa missed one small item on my
Christmas list. The Cayman R w/PDK was missed! When I confronted
Santa about this small oversight, I was given "the look". Oh well,
maybe next year.

I don't know about you, but January is always depressing. "Why?", you
ask. For starters, all of my holiday bills come due in January (ok,
call me Scrooge). Second, I start receiving W2's, 1099's, etc. which
reminds me of what looms ahead. And lastly, it is usually a dismal
month to drive a Porsche although this is not always the case, so read
on. Enough of my grumbling.

I attended three very nice Shenandoah events that were held in the
fourth quarter of last year. I was able to make the Fall Foliage
Tour, the New Member Dinner/Social, and the Holiday Party.

The Fall Foliage Tour was postponed one week from its original date
due to a early-season winter blast that hit western Virginia in late
October. It was unfortunate, because the planners and hosts, Phil and
Susie Audibert, were unable to attend the re-scheduled event. The
tour started with a wonderful reception hosted by Weldon and Phyllis
Scrogam at their G&W Motorwerkes
showroom. If you have never been to G&W Motorwerkes and you are in
the Waynesboro area, do yourself a favor and stop in. You will not be
disappointed.

It was a beautiful day for a drive in the country. As in years past,
we were treated to a scenic route through the central valley area and
ended up at the Fareways restaurant located in the beautiful
Massanutten Resort. The weather actually was warm when standing in
the sun, so I removed the top from my Targa. All was well until we
got out of town and starting traveling at highway speeds. The radiant
heat of the sun was replaced by a brisk wind chill. Ever try to put
on a coat while driving a Porsche? It can be done, but I recommend
you stop when making wardrobe adjustments. In summary, it was a
wonderful event and one that I look forward to every fall. Again, my
thanks to Phil and Susie.

Our Region had a Member Social/Dinner Party in mid-November that
was hosted
by Flow
Porsche at their Pantops showroom. A special effort had been made
to get new Shenandoah members to attend. Based on some unfamiliar
faces, I think they were successful in getting some new folks out for
the event. The buffet dinner was prepared by the
C&O restaurant; it
was fabulous. On a side note, I highly recommend the C&O for a very
nice dining experience; the restaurant is located in downtown
Charlottesville across the street from the old C&O rail station.

The staff at Flow Porsche treated us to a guided tour of their
facilities, and I must say I was impressed by their service area and
overall operation. After dinner, the Sales staff entertained us with
Porsche-related trivia questions; correct answers were rewarded with a
door prize. I won a very nice Porsche 918 hat after correctly
answering the question, "How many M8 bolts are used in a 1957
Speedster engine?". Just kidding...

My final event of the year was the Region's Holiday Party that was
held at historic Michie
Tavern. We were treated to a wonderful private dinner party that
was hosted by fellow Shenandoah member Sam Morris. Sam just happens
to be the General Manager at Michie Tavern, so you know we got the VIP
treatment!

Michie Tavern is a wonderful venue for a Holiday party with its
colonial (real stuff!) decor, holiday decorations, large cozy
fireplace and gracious servers. The food is served buffet style, but
"seconds" are brought to your table by the numerous servers. The food
is a traditional southern feast! I doubt very many folks leave Michie
Tavern still hungry.

After dinner, awards were presented to several special individuals for
excellence on the Auto-X circuit. The evening concluded with the
awarding of a bounty of door prizes. It appeared the vast majority of
folks left with a prize, which is nice. Mary Jean was unable to
attend the party because she had left earlier in the day on a business
trip. A couple of weeks later I treated her to a surprise lunch at
Michie Tavern while we visiting some wineries in the Charlottesville
area. It was not the same as the private Shenandoah party, but we had
fun and enjoyed the lunch.

This is the time of year that most PCA activities slow down, unless
you live in California or Florida. That does not mean you are
forbidden from taking the car out on a nice day and enjoying the
winter here in Virginia. So far, this winter has been fairly mild and
there have been ample opportunities for me to take the Carrera out for
a nice drive in the countryside. I hope you have similar
opportunities.

I hate to admit, but I am thinking about selling my wonderful '84
Carrera and trading up for something newer. We bought the Carrera in
1997 and it has become part of our life. We would love to be able to
keep the Carrera and buy something newer, but honestly we can not
justify that scenario. I am still "on the fence" with this wacky
idea, so I will keep you posted. Not sure what I would buy, but I was
very impressed by the Cayman R that I drove at last summer's Parade.

I am planning that my next installment of "Russ's Ramblings" will
start you thinking about getting your car ready for the Spring driving
season. I will share some of my tips for making the interior and
exterior sparkle. I will also share some preventative maintenance
tips, so until then...enjoy Winter.

Drive safe.

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